Turkish air strikes hit several towns across northern Syria, including the city of Kobane, late Saturday, said Kurdish-led forces there and a Britain-based monitoring group.

The Turkish raids killed at least six members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and six pro-regime soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

Israeli strikes on Saturday morning killed four Syrian regime soldiers and wounded one in central and western districts, Syrian state media reported.

The defense ministers of Israel and Greece on Friday stressed the importance of maintaining strong alliances to tackle global and regional threats, citing challenges such as the war in Ukraine and ongoing tension in the eastern Mediterranean.

"The world is changing," Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said after meeting in Athens with his Greek counterpart, Nikolas Panagiotopoulos. "The implications of the war in Ukraine bleed through national borders. The politics of extremism and terrorism impacts countries across the globe."

Twenty-one victims of a fire that tore through a top-floor apartment in the Gaza Strip during a birthday party were members of the same family, two of their relatives said Friday.

Thousands later joined a funeral procession for the victims.

The U.S. military said a rocket attack late Thursday targeted international coalition forces in northeast Syria, without causing any casualties.

The Biden administration declared Thursday that Saudi Arabia's crown prince should be considered immune from a lawsuit over his role in the killing of a U.S.-based journalist, a turnaround from Joe Biden's passionate campaign trail denunciations of Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the brutal slaying.

The administration said the senior position of the crown prince, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler and recently named prime minister as well, should shield him against a suit brought by the fiancée of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and by the rights group Khashoggi founded, Democracy for the Arab World Now.

Israel and Turkey agreed to a fresh start in ties Thursday, according to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Relations between the former allies became icy under Netanyahu's term in office. He is now expected to return to power soon as head of Israel's most right-wing government ever.

Relations were already on the mend under outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid who met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York in September, the first meeting between the countries' leaders in 14 years.

A fire broke out in Baghdad's international airport Thursday for a second time in 48 hours, prompting Iraqi authorities to open an investigation.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani dismissed the head of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority over the incidents, according to a statement from his office.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that "sports should not be politicized," days after it was announced — to criticism — that he would attend the World Cup in Qatar if France reaches the semifinals.

Speaking in Bangkok, Macron said issues about Qatar's human rights record and the environment were "questions you have to ask yourself when you award the event."

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hoped for greater cooperation with Saudi Arabia — including on its $500 billion futuristic desert city project — as he met the kingdom's powerful crown prince Thursday, Seoul officials said.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman flew to South Korea earlier Thursday for talks with Yoon and business tycoons in his first visit to South Korea since June 2019.